Wednesday, February 17, 2016

Assisted Suicide

By Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director – Euthanasia Prevention CoalitionThe 2015 Oregon assisted suicide report indicates there was another 26% increase in assisted suicide deaths and a 40% increase in lethal prescriptions.
This follows on the heels of the 2014 Oregon assisted suicide report
which showed a 44% increase in assisted suicide deaths and a 48%
increase in lethal prescriptions. In just two years, there has been an
80% increase in assisted suicide deaths.
The 2015 annual report is similar to prior years. The report implies
that the deaths were voluntary (self-administered), but the information
in the report does not address that subject.
Oregon’s assisted suicide law allows the lethal dose to be
administered without effective oversight. The Oregon law enables two
doctors to approve death by assisted suicide and once the lethal
prescription is written there is no further oversight.
The prescribing physician was present at the assisted suicide death
in only 14 of 132 deaths in 2015, creating the opportunity for an heir,
or someone else who will benefit from the patient’s death, to administer
the lethal dose to the patient without the patient’s consent. “Even if
he struggled, who would know?”
After the person dies by assisted suicide in Oregon, the doctor who
prescribed the lethal dose is required to submit a report. However the
information in the annual reports is solely based on the data provided
by the doctors who prescribe the lethal dose and then self-report after the death of the person. This system enables abuses of the law to be covered-up. Doctors do not self-report abuse of the law.
Moreover in 2015, the ingestion status of 43 people who received a
lethal dose was unknown. We do not know whether or not these people died
by assisted suicide.
In 2015, Oregon assisted suicide deaths increased in numbers and conditions.

132 people died by assisted suicide in 2015, which was up from 105
assisted suicide deaths in 2014 and 73 assisted suicide deaths in 2013.

218 lethal prescriptions were obtained in 2015, which was up from
155 lethal prescriptions in 2014 and 121 lethal prescriptions in 2013.

Deaths from “other illnesses” continue to increase as the reasons for
assisted suicide expand. In 2015, 14 people (more than 10%of the total)
died from other illnesses which included diabetes.
Similar to previous years, only 5 people received a psychiatric
evaluation even though a few years ago an Oregon study found that 26% of
the people who requested assisted suicide were depressed. Psychiatrist,
Dr. Steven King recently stated in the Psychiatric Times that the
Oregon law is not protecting depressed patients.

The number of people who had private health insurance and died by
assisted suicide dropped from 60.2% in previous years to 36.7% in 2015.
An increasing number of people who request assisted suicide are
dependent on Medicaid or Medicare (62.5% in 2015 up from an average of
38.3% in the past). This is concerning since the Oregon Health Authority
pays for assisted suicide but not suicide prevention for adults.

Even though the number of assisted suicides continue to increase, in
2015 Oregon debated a bill to expand the definition of terminal, from 6
months to 12 months to death. One reason for the proposed expansion was
that doctors already ignore the 6 month terminal definition. In 2015,
one person died almost 34 months (nearly 3 years) after being prescribed
the lethal dose.
The assisted suicide lobby is also trying to force doctors who oppose
assisted suicide to refer their patients to doctors who will assist
suicides.

The disability rights group, Not Dead Yet, argues that assisted
suicide is discriminatory and a violation of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
I agree.Editor’s note. This appeared at alexschadenberg.blogspot.com and is reposted with permission.